Buying Centers

Such organizations include, commercial enterprises, profit and not for profit institutions, government agencies and resellers. In the industrial market, markets are relatively concentrated and channels of distribution are shorter, buyers are well informed, highly organized and sophisticated in purchasing techniques and many influencers contribute to the purchasing decisions. Unlike in the consumer markets, industrial marketers must define their target markets, determine their needs and come up with products designed to satisfy the need of the market.

We Will Write A Custom Essay Sample On ANY TOPIC SPECIFICALLYFOR YOUFor Only $13.90/page

In making decisions, purchasing managers must coordinate with numerous people with diverse organizational responsibilities who apply different criteria to purchasing decisions. The industrial marketers therefore have an obligation to develop effective marketing strategies to reach organizational buyers by understanding the nature of industrial buying. This entails knowledge of the different types of buying situations that organizations encounter and the process that buyers go through in reaching purchasing decisions.

They must also, understand on how these decisions are affected by different members of the firm and the criteria they apply in making purchasing decisions. A major task therefore to a marketer in industrial buying segment is to identify those individuals who are in a way involved in the purchasing decision process. This decision making unit may consist of only one person but it is normally a group of individuals who share a common goal. The market characteristic in this sector is dynamic compared to the consumer buying centre. Size of the market.

Compared to the consumers buying centre, the industrial market is composed of relatively fewer buyers. This is in contrast to the many households which is geographically dispersed. The basics of marketing management apply to both consumer and industrial marketing. However the industrial markets are geographically concentrated, the customers are relatively fewer, the distribution channels are short, the buyers (or customers) are well informed the buying organizations are highly organized and use sophisticated purchasing techniques.

The purchasing decisions are based on observable stages in industrial marketing. Industrial marketing is more a responsibility of general management in comparison to consumer marketing. Sometimes, it is difficult to separate industrial marketing strategy from the corporate (company) strategy. But in case of consumer marketing, many times the changes in marketing strategy are carried out within the marketing department, through changes in advertising, sales promotion, and packaging strategies.